Scotuscast

On June 16, 2016, the Supreme Court decided Universal Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar. This case involves the federal False Claims Act, which allows a private party to bring a “qui tam” action alleging that the defendant defrauded the federal government. In a “qui tam” action the government remains the actual plaintiff, but the private party--referred to as the “Relator”--typically litigates the case for the government’s benefit and receives a specified share of any recovery. -- Here, Relators alleged that their daughter--who died of a seizure in 2009--was treated by various unlicensed and unsupervised staff at Arbour Counseling Services, a facility owned by Universal Health Services, in violation of Massachusetts regulations. They argued that Arbour's alleged noncompliance with various supervision and licensing requirements rendered its reimbursement claims submitted to the state Medicaid agency actionably false under both the federal and Massachusetts False Claims Acts. The district court